THE STORY OF IMMAM AL-SHAFI'I (Episode 2)*

 Muslims Till Death:

ASSALAMU ALAYKUM WARAHMATULLAH WABARAKAATUHU . LET'S START TONIGHT'S EDUCATION. OUR TOPIC IS 👇.                                                                            *THE STORY OF IMMAM AL-SHAFI'I (Episode 2)*                                                                                                               

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Al-Shāfi'ī biographers all agree that the legacy of works under his name are the result of those sessions with his disciples. Nafisah was a descendant of the Islamic Nabi (Prophet) Muhammad, through his grandson Hasan ibn Ali, who married another descendant of Muhammad, that is Is-haq al-Mu'tamin the son of the Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was reportedly a teacher of ash-Shafi'i's teacher Malik ibn Anas and Abu Hanifah.
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Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni Fiqh (Abu Hanifah, Malik, his student Ash-Shafi'i, and his student Ibn Hanbal) are connected to Imam Ja'far from the (Household) of Prophet , whether directly or indirectly. At least one authority states that al-Shāfi'ī died as a result of injuries sustained from an attack by supporters of a Maliki follower named Fityan. The story goes that al-Shāfi'ī triumphed in the argument over Fityan, who, being intemperate, resorted to abuse.
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The Governor of Egypt, with whom al-Shafi'i had good relations, ordered Fityan punished by having him paraded through the streets of the city carrying a plank and stating the reason for his punishment. Fityan's supporters were enraged by this treatment and attacked Shafi'i in retaliation after one of his lectures. Al-Shafi'i died a few days later. However, Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani in his biography of al-Shāfi'ī Tawālī al-Ta'sīs, casts doubt on this story saying "I do not consider this from a reliable source".
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However, al-Shāfi'ī was also known to have suffered from a serious intestinal illness/hemorrhoids, which kept him frail and ailing during the later years of his life. The precise cause of his death is thus unknown. Al-Shāfi'ī died at the age of 54 on the 30th of Rajab in 204 AH (20 January 820 CE), in Al-Fustat, Egypt, and was buried in the vault of the Banū ‘Abd al-Hakam, near Mount al-Muqattam. The qubbah (dome) was built in 608 AH (1212 CE) by the Ayyubid Sultan Al-Kamil, and the mausoleum remains an important site today.
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Al-Shāfi'ī is credited with creating the essentials of the science of fiqh (the system of Islamic jurisprudence). He designated the four principles/sources/components of fiqh, which in order of importance are:
The Qur’an;
Hadith. i.e collections of the words, actions, and silent approval of Prophet Muhammad pbuh. (Together with the Qur'an these make up "revealed sources".);
Ijma. i.e. the consensus of the (orthodox) Muslim community;
Qiyas. i.e. the method of analogy.
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A renowned Scholar credit Al-Shafi'i not just with establishing the science of fiqh in Islam, but its importance to the religion. "Where his contemporaries and their predecessors had engaged in defining Islam as a social and historical phenomenon, Shafi'i sought to define a revealed Law." With this systematization of shari'a, he provided a legacy of unity for all Muslims and forestalled the development of independent, regionally based legal systems.
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The four Sunni legal schools or madhhabs keep their traditions within the framework that Shafi'i established. One of the schools – Shafi'i fiqh – is named for Al-Shāfi‘ī.

It is followed in many different places in the Islamic world: Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen as well as Sri Lanka and southern parts of India, especially in the Malabar coast of North Kerala and Canara region of Karnataka. Al-Shāfi‘ī emphasized the final authority of a hadith of Prophet Muhammad pbuh so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of traditions (i.e. hadith), and not vice versa."
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While traditionally the Quran is considered above the Sunna in authority, Al-Shafi'i "forcefully argued" that the sunna stands "on equal footing with the Quran", (according to scholar Daniel Brown) for – as Al-Shafi'i put it – "the command of the Prophet is the command of God."
Al-Shāfi‘ī insists time after time that nothing can override the authority of the Prophet, even if it be attested only by an isolate tradition, and that every well-authenticated tradition going back to the Prophet has precedence over the opinions of his Companions, their Successors, and later authorities."
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The focus by the Muslim community on ahadith of Prophet and disinterest in ahadith of Prophet’s companions (whose ahadith were commonly used before Al-Shāfi‘ī since most of whom survived him and spread his teachings after his death) is thought to reflect the success of Al-Shāfi‘ī's doctrine. Al-Shāfi‘ī influence was such that he changed the use of the term Sunnah, "until it invariably meant only the Sunnah of the Prophet" this was his "principle achievement").
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While earlier, sunnah had been used to refer to tribal manners and customs, (and while Al-Shāfi‘ī distinguished between the non-authoritative "sunnah of the Muslims" that was followed in practice, and the "sunnah of the Prophet" that Muslims should follow), sunnah came to mean the Sunnah of Prophet . In the Islamic sciences, Shafi'i is credited with "the imposition of a formal theoretical distinction" between

the Sunnah of the Prophet

and the Quran, "especially where the two fundamental sources appeared to clash".
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Questions, Suggestions and grievances on or to better this program is welcome. *We shall continue tomorrow on this story in Sha Allah*. May Allah azza wa jalla make us steadfast in faith. May HE accept our ibaadaat and grant us the Good in this World and the Hereafter. May HE guide, forgive and grant us Jannah...AMIN.